Jonathan Cape of London 1965.
FIRST STATE, First Edition, First Printing A extremely rare FIRST STATE of this title in Fine/Near fine condition, with the scarce binding of the rare image of the golden “GUN” stamped in gold on the front boards of the book. Purported to have only 900 copies before the publisher decided to change to the plain black boards due to production costs.
According to research, a decision was made, very early in the process, that to block the whole print run with such a large expanse of foil, would be financially prohibitive. (“According to the publisher’s book production files the original estimate allowed for just four and a half square inches of foil-stamping [the executed design measured nearly nineteen square inches]. The decision to cease stamping a golden gun was purely economical.” – Gilbert (Ian Fleming The Bibliography)). In addition, most all of these rare first state printings where originally sent to the colonies, principally Australia and South Africa, and as such very few survived, and most have condition issues.
The iconic first state boards are stamped with a large ‘Golden Gun” to the front and maintains vibrant gilt to both the spine titles and the gilt embossed gun. The book has clean, bright pages in crisp condition with no owner names, no bookplates, and no bookstore stamps, no foxing, no bent pages, no handling marks, no stains and and no writing. Green patterned end papers with no bookplates, no inscriptions and no owner names. The book’s boards are overall crisp with sharp corners, but one with corner tip bump located to the back panel. The book has no edgewear and the binding is very tight and square. Please see images for more details. A fine copy whose only concern is the one corner tip bump.
The original striking unrestored jacket is in FINE condition. The colors are strong, bright and vibrant. The jacket no edgewear, no rips, no chips, no stains, no rubbing, no sunning/darkening and no foxing. The dust jacket is NOT price clipped and has a stated price of 18s. net. Please see detailed images which were taken without the dust jacket protector for better viewing.
An exceptional clean, bright copy in fine/near fine condition and perfect for a lover of the James Bond books. A rare classic which would make a nice gift for a Fleming collector.
